Hurley looks to repave section of rail trail

By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE

Thursday, March 28, 2013

HURLEY, N.Y. -- The Town Board is waiting for more responses from contractors on a planned repaving of 2 miles of rail trail along U.S. Route 209.

The project was discussed during a meeting Monday, with town Highway Superintendent Clyde Russell noting that there has been a $14,500 estimated received from Nassau-based Copeland Coating Co. for work planned this summer.

"I met with him and rode the trail," Russell said. "He prefers to take a large crack and not just fill it, he actually cuts it out and refills it with a stronger material and blows all the bad stuff out and seals over it."

The Copeland proposal would take two days and have half the trail open.

Russell said another review was conducted by Kerhonkson-based Quality Seal Company, which would pave the entire length for one day but did not immediately provide a cost estimate.

"He wanted to shut the whole trail down for the whole day," Russell said. "He said it would take him probably 12 to 14 hours."

Russell said the project is expected to be completed in "June or July. They like to do it in the warmer weather and when we have longer days."

The 10-foot-wide paved section of rail trail, which is part of the 108-mile D&H Heritage Rail Trail Corridor from Kingston to Carbondale, Pa., opened in 2004 after being designated for pedestrian use in 1995.

Town officials had received a $100,000 state grant for the initial paving but are responsible for maintenance.

"With all the cracks in the asphalt we don't want to get water in there and have it start freezing to make the cracks bigger and bigger," town Supervisor Gary Bellows said. "So we're going to try to preserve it."

In a related matter officials are reviewing whether the ad hoc Rail Trail Committee should be designated as a town-appointed panel.

"Right now ... it's more of a group of individuals who worked on the rail trail since its inception," Bellows said.

"What we're going to do is check with the Association of Towns to see if it should be more officially a town of Hurley committee," he said. "I just want to be sure there is no obligation on the town's behalf to make it official."